


first ray of light

by červień (VioletSauce)



Series: sunrise over the lake [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Deception, Gen, Luke raised by the Naberries, don't mind me making up random cultural events and phenomena for the star wars universe yet again, early days of the Empire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27514048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletSauce/pseuds/%C4%8Dervie%C5%84
Summary: Before the Republic completely went to hell, Padmé wanted her sister close when she would be giving birth. Sola got a beacon that would announce Padmé's location when she would be in labor. Sola makes it to Polis Massa right after Bail Organa leaves, but just before Obi-Wan could.
Relationships: Darred Janren Naberrie/Sola Naberrie, Jobal Naberrie/Ruwee Naberrie, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Sola Naberrie, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Sola Naberrie & Luke Skywalker, Sola Naberrie & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: sunrise over the lake [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010865
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	first ray of light

**Author's Note:**

> Let's imagine that the plot to separate the twins was agreed upon at Polis Massa to begin with so that Yoda, Bail, and Obi-Wan wouldn't have to bring two extremely force sensitive children to Naboo, the birth planet of the Emperor who is also an evil Sith hell-bent on hunting down and either killing or turning all force sensitive children. Yoda departs for Dagobah from there, Bail departs with Leia as soon as he is able, since he needs to lay the groundwork for her adoption quickly and come up with a backstory for how this happened, and Obi-Wan stays behind for a little longer because Luke has a small complication that will take med droids a bit more time, after which he is supposed to get the droids to fake the pregnancy, notify Padmé's team of what happened and where to find her, and flee for Tatooine. Sola makes it just in time to still discover Luke and obviously she's not letting Obi-Wan take her nephew to the sand planet that the husband of her sister hated with his entire being, for all that the Larses may be nice people.

Sola’s emergency beacon activated when she was just about to leave Eriadu and head back to Naboo, shocked by everything that had happened to the Galaxy while she was on this planet and desperate to be back with her family, make sure they’re safe, and weather the upcoming storm together with them.

It was a beacon given to her by her sister, Padmé, when she informed Sola about her pregnancy and asked her to come be with her when she’d be giving birth.

_“You’ve done this before, twice, and I... this is new to me, Sola!” her little sister said then, gone was the vision of a perfectly composed and assured politician she’d been since her pre-teen years._

_“Am I getting this right? Senator Padmé Amidala, one of the loudest and most courageous voices in the Galactic Senate, scared of something?” Sola teased her, lightly, in a supportive tone, the one she’d employ when Padmé would sulk over obstructionists in the multiple political structures she’d worked in throughout her life. Sola would always jump in anyway to help her sister plan a verbal counter-offensive that would still get her to her goal._

_“I might be... slightly uneasy,” Padmé’s face scrunched up into her version of a pout; she never did like admitting she was scared of something, not even as a little girl apprehensive about mountain climbing. But Sola still remembered holding her ever so slightly shaking hand the entire time they were going up the windy roads of Gallo Mountains. “And Anakin told me he was having bad visions, so I would rather be safe than sorry. You should understand better than anyone!”_

So of course Sola took the beacon and promised that she would make it to support her sister during or after childbirth no matter what (naturally, after getting the truth from Padmé about her relationship with the by then legendary Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker and teasing her.

_“Look at you, Pam, the one and only time you bring a boyfriend back home, you marry him and have a child with him! You were supposed to drive mom and dad crazy by dating all those boys throwing themselves at your feet since forever!”_

_To which Padmé blushed, almost imperceptibly, and retaliated with pointed calm and a smile in her eyes “Just because you made dad rip his hair out doing that doesn’t mean I have to, Sol.”_ )

She would have already had to cut her expedition to Eriadu short; Eriadu had been mostly peaceful throughout the last months of the war, but with the rise of the Empire nobody could tell what would happen next. Sola’d come to the planet to recover priceless artifacts of Naboo poetry, several books written by Rai’endé Leen, daughter of a king from 5 centuries ago, exiled for refusing to go through with an arranged marriage and eloping with at the time the most prominent pilot of her father’s navy, both of them driven off the planet by the monarch. The couple left a huge impact on the culture of the outer rim, traveling around different systems and writing about them. Rai’endé was a poet and her unnamed wife wrote prose (most of which had been unfortunately lost) and forewords to Rai’endé’s poetry collections. The two eventually settled on Eriadu, which is where most of their literature input could be found.

Sola had had to sit through painful negotiations with local cultural ministers about the newly recovered books, arguing back and forth about which side should get the originals, begrudgingly agreeing that Eriaduans were making good points (yes, Naboo technically exiled Rai’endé and declared her not to be of Naboo any longer; yes, the fact that she settled on Eriadu made her Eriaduan as well, and, yes, her works were also part of Eriaduan culture). Eventually, Sola did manage to persuade the ministers to relent three of the five books, on the count that they were written in the language of the court of Theed, an artificial language created from the dialect spoken at Dee’ja Peak when the governing body moved from there. The other two were written in a combination of Basic and the unique dead language of Phelar, born out of a mix of different cultures and languages meeting in the city’s port; Sola had to concede on them almost immediately, or else risk losing the other three books as well.

She was supposed to stay for another week at least, negotiating a translation deal for both the books she would be taking back home with her to enrich the Theed Royal Library and Archives, and the books that would be staying. But then the war ended, and Palpatine made his announcement, and everyone on Eriadu suddenly got much more important things to worry about, as did Sola. She packed up her things, especially careful when handling the books she so luckily managed to reach an agreement on before the worse came to worst, and returned to her ship, intent on taking the Hydian Way to Malastare, and then turning to Naboo.

And that was when Padmé’s beacon activated, and Sola had to urgently change course for Polis Massa and, most importantly, figure out where Polis Massa was to begin with.

* * *

When Sola got to the medical facility on Polis Massa, she walked into a tragedy and a nightmare.

The med droid she encountered upon entering the construction wasted her time asking her questions she had no patience to answer before finally giving in and directing her to a room in the third corridor to her right, the maternity ward of the hospital. Sola took off immediately, the only thing keeping her from running being the slippery floor she didn’t want to fall on.

She couldn’t help but notice how still and quiet the hospital was, for all that they were in the Outer Rim right after the end of the war. There should have been more people, more wounded, more relatives like her, there. But it was like the entire Galaxy muted itself for that place, right there, ignoring the cries of the hurt and grieving to focus on... something. Something Sola would never be able to understand or feel but something she believed in wholeheartedly. She was filled with an anticipation unlike ever before, an almost uncomfortable, unfamiliar twitch of an urge forming just beneath her skin, like an itch, growing into an apprehension that Sola just couldn’t keep down or push back. She pressed the button on the door to the room Padmé was supposedly in and walked in.

The world stopped and froze over. Sola faltered, her eyes flying wide open in shock, her right hand going up to cover her mouth as she let out a sound between a sob and a shriek. Her left hand bunched up the soft cotton of her blouse, looking for purchase, for something to hold on to, to keep her upright.

On the table in the farther part of the room lied her sister.

As the monitor displaying the patient’s vital signs showed, her dead sister.

“Oh, Padmé...” Sola gave a broken whisper before flying forward to her side.

“Sola Naberrie?” a hoarse voice croaked from the corner of the room. 

Sola’s head snapped up, her eyes immediately landing on the only other sentient person alive in the room. She faltered only for a moment before going for the blaster strapped to her side and pointing it at the man, hissing, “General Kenobi. You better have an explanation for what you are doing here and why... why my sister is lying here dead.”

“Lady Naberrie, please...” Kenobi put his hands out in front of him. The Jedi’s eyes were as full of tears as Sola’s own, she noticed. Her hand didn’t falter.

“No! I didn’t believe the Chance– the Emperor one bit when he said that the Jedi Order betrayed him and the Republic but don’t you make me doubt myself. Tell me!” Sola steeled her voice and ordered. “What happened to my sister?”

Kenobi’s shoulders slumped. He was still keeping his hands visibly in front of him and away from the lightsaber hanging at his side, which Sola was grateful for; he did lower his head, though, and his entire stature crumbled in front of her eyes.

 _What happened to him?_ , Sola thought. _What happened to one of the most professional, well-esteemed Jedi known in this entire war? What could have happened to him?_

But the answer was obvious, wasn’t it? The same thing that happened to the entire Galaxy happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi just as well.

“Your sister, Padmé... she died in childbirth. I’m so sorry, Lady Naberrie,” the Jedi’s voice sounded so small, so defeated it was painful to hear. “The medical droid told me they didn’t know what was wrong, that she just... lost her will to live. I don’t know... I don’t know why she... Why all this...”

“That’s enough,” Sola murmurred, lowering her weapon before the man in front of her went into a panic attack. “But why would she just... lose her will to live if she just gave birth? What’s happened before this? Why were you even here? Why was Padmé here? Why not Coruscant, not Naboo, anywhere closer to the core?”

“Padmé went to Mustafar, and I followed her. I knew she would go after– go after–,” Kenobi’s voice broke and he wheezed, his lungs incapable of taking in any air as he was breathing more frequently and heavily.

“General Kenobi! General! Calm down!” Sola barked out, taking more of the room in with her eyes to look for a button to call in med droids.

It turned out to be unnecessary, though, as no sooner had she pressed it than Kenobi closed his eyes and evened out his breathing, willing himself calm.

“I am okay, Lady Naberrie.”

“Sola,” she swallowed. “Just call me Sola.”

She was so tired, she realized suddenly. The last two days had been a wade through the swamps of Ohma-D’un and now it swallowed her up, she walked right into a nightmare, and her sister was lying dead just off to her left and Sola couldn’t, Sola couldn’t bare to think about her, to look at her, to consider that she will never see her little Pam open her eyes and smile at her, laugh with her, hold her hand as they climbed the mountains on Naboo. She would never be able to do that again, and Sola was so lost, like a chunk of her flesh was ripped out of her and nothing was holding up her body anymore, the tissue connecting her body to itself gone, gone, gone.

“Sola. Then you may call me Obi-Wan,” Keno– Obi-Wan nodded. 

“Let us leave this room, Obi-Wan. Please, let’s continue talking anywhere else.”

And so they moved outside.

“Padmé left Coruscant after Palpatine’s address, she went to Mustafar, and something. Something went wrong, Padmé went into labor too early, so I had to transport her here, to the closest friendly hospital.”

“Mustafar?” Sola frowned. “Why would she go to Mustafar? That planet is volcanic and barely habitable for humans, not to mention it was with the Confederacy. What would Padmé have to do there?”

“She wasn’t there on official business, she went there to meet–“ Obi-Wan didn’t manage to finish the sentence before the medical droid that Sola had called just minutes ago rolled into the corridor, effectively breaking up their conversation.

“What seems to be the problem, honorable guests?” the droid immediately delivered in its robotic voice. Seeing no immediate concerns, the droid turned to look at Sola, “Are you a visitor? Do you need medical attention? I am a 2-1B-series medical droid. It is my programming to look at you if you are experiencing any pain or discomfort.”

Sola was experiencing pain, so much of it indeed, but it wasn’t anything a med droid could fix, so she shook her head.

“Why are you holding a blaster pistol? There is no danger at this medical facility. I will ask you to put away your weapon, or else you will be deemed hostile.”

Sola looked down at her hands, bewildered to see that, indeed, she was still holding the blaster she had been aiming at Obi-Wan not even 10 minutes prior. Sola let out a shuddering breath and nodded, strapping the blaster to her belt again.

The droid seemed satisfied, because it turned to Obi-Wan and said, “We have finished preparing the male child, he will be brought in within two minutes.”

Sola’s world stopped again, for an eye blink’s time, before restarting, with more sound and color in it. “Child?” she whispered.

“Indeed. The deceased mother’s male child, 3.2 kg, a healthy weight for a newborn human. There was a complication with the baby’s lungs, but we managed to resolve it in a timely manner. Another droid will bring him in soon.”

And indeed, within seconds of the droid finishing its speech the door opened once again and a nurse droid wheeled in, holding a tiny baby.

“O-oh,” Sola choked, feeling tears well up in her eyes and roll down her cheeks again as she looked at her sister’s son, her dearest Padmé’s little boy, Sola’s nephew. Her voice desperate, she hoarsely requested “Please, bring him here.”

And moments after, her nephew was in her arms, tiny and warm and perfect, a piece of Padmé still left in the world, with her. He was asleep, his eyes closed and breath even. Sola caressed his cheek with the back of her index finger, light and slow so as not to wake him up, before looking up and asking, “Did she name him?”

Obi-Wan, who had been looking at the baby in Sola’s arms like he was the center of the whole Galaxy and there was nothing more important, startled badly. When he replied, his voice was just as hoarse as hers, “Luke. She had enough time to... to name him. Luke.”

“Luke,” Sola whispered reverently. “Not a name from Naboo, but it’s beautiful. He will do so well in the Lake Country. Padmé can’t give him that so I will have to.”

“He can’t be taken to Naboo.”

“What?!” for the second time in the day Sola felt like grabbing her blaster pistol and pointing it at that man. “Of course he can, Naboo is his mother’s home, it’s his family’s home! He will grow up on Naboo, Kenobi. Without the Jedi order, I have all the legal claim to him, you can’t steal a child into a crèche that no longer exists.”

Obi-Wan flinched, “You misunderstand me. It’s not about... the Order. It’s about,” his voice sounded chocked, “Anakin.”

Sola blinked, horror welling up from her stomach, “Anakin. Where is he? Is he okay?”

It was... difficult, imagining Anakin Skywalker, Jedi knight, war hero and her brother-in-law, dead. But Sola knew most Jedi were dead by that point and Anakin was a good fighter and general, but good wasn’t always enough. She steeled herself, preparing for more bad news: dead, dying, comatose, badly hurt, lost, anything.

What came instead was a raspy, “Anakin killed Padmé.”

Sola’s head snapped up again, eyes wide in shock, “Anakin? What?! I don’t believe you!”

And she didn’t, she couldn’t believe the words but... she couldn’t not believe the expression on Obi-Wan’s face: the absolute devastation, grief etched into his features was unbearable to witness.

“She came to Mustafar to find him, she was there for him, and he– he used the force on her, he chocked her, he hurt her so much, and, and he had killed children before, he killed so many, all the younglings, and the Jedi, he killed them with his own hands and his own saber, and I didn’t want to believe it either but I saw, I saw the footage, I saw him go into the Temple and just...” once more Obi-Wan started to hyperventilate, barely getting words out and breathing in but unable to stop, unable to keep himself from reliving all the horrible, horrible things that had happened.

Sola staggered, tightening her hold on Luke so as not to drop him; out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the med droids rush to Obi-Wan’s side to help him calm down and regain his breath. Sola breathed out, “How... How could this happen? What happened?”

It was a minute before Obi-Wan was feeling well enough again to speak up, and when he did, he spoke through gritted teeth, his voice a whistle and a roar in one, “It was Palpatine. He’s not just the Emperor, he’s– the Jedi Order has been looking for the Sith Master ever since the Trade Federation blockade on Naboo, when my Master and I fought his first apprentice. And it was Palpatine the whole time. It was always him, there, and he... twisted Anakin, manipulated him and turned him into. Into someone I can’t recognize anymore. Force, Sola, he was my brother!”

And that, Sola could understand better than anything else. She took a few steps across the room, being careful not to slip on the shiny white panels that her boots couldn’t get good purchase on, to get closer to Obi-Wan, let him see Luke better and have a chance to touch him as well. “What happened to him afterwards?”

Obi-Wan swallowed, looking nauseated and, somehow, both reluctant to continue and eager to get this out of his system, “I stowed away on Padmé’s ship. When Anakin got angry with her, I stepped in to, to take his attention off her, and we fought. We fought and I cut off his legs and left him,” a choked cry, “to die because I couldn’t. I couldn’t strike him down. And then I took Padmé’s ship and brought us here to get her the medical attention she needed.”

Sola stood still, unable to believe the words the Jedi was saying, even though a look at him left her no doubt that he was truthful. For Anakin Skywalker to hurt his wife, hurt his sister who had just two weeks ago been gushing about how happy she was to have him nearby more often, ever since he and Obi-Wan had saved Palpatine from abduction...

“I don’t understand how I didn’t see it... All this time there was this darkness to him and I just couldn’t see. Wouldn’t allow myself to see. Oh, Sola, what has happened to this Galaxy?”

“The Galaxy got broken, General... Obi-Wan. And we’re only now trying to figure out, how,” Sola was so, so tired. “What were your plans for Luke before I came here?”

“I was going to take him to Tatooine. Anakin still has... had family there. They would raise Luke there, far away from the Core and the Sith.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen, Obi-Wan. I am going to take my nephew to Naboo and I will raise him as my son, among lakes and mountains, in abundance, not among sands, dryness, and shortage,” Sola stated plainly, like a fact, something entirely uncontroversial.

“You can’t! It’s the Emperor’s planet, the Emperor who is the Sith master. And Luke is so bright... Palpatine will find him in a heartbeat,” Obi-Wan blew up. Immediately after, his posture slumped once again, exhaustion setting in as quickly as passion did.

“Then I suggest you find a way to help Luke... shield himself, that’s what you call that, right? I am his aunt, and, Force, I am going to raise my sister’s child if it’s the last thing I do,” Sola snapped back at him just as viciously.

“You will be putting your entire family in danger, Sola,” Obi-Wan took a placating tone now.

“My family is already in danger,” Sola shook her head. “My sister is... was an outspokenly anti-Palpatine senator and former Queen, and the rest of my family is not otherwise uninvolved in the political life of the Galaxy. If Palpatine wanted to, he could eliminate the entire House of Naberrie and not even need a plausible explanation for why. So we need to make it so he doesn’t want to.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“There are ways, Master Jedi.”

* * *

Sola’s first call, encrypted and untraceable, was made to her husband. She knew he would be worried about her and wanted to reassure him; but she also needed to ask a favor of him, a painful one.

“Sola!” his answer was predictably quick; Sola drank in the sight of him, the face of a loved one, alive and unharmed, unlike Padmé. He looked well-rested, if stressed, and Sola could just make out the bookshelves in his office in their home.

“Darred,” Sola’s greeting was subdued; she was still incapable of being so enthusiastic so soon after finding her sister the way that she had.

“Sola, I’m so glad you’re okay! You told me yesterday that you’d be home by tonight, what’s happened?”

Sola lowered her head and swallowed heavily. The words she needed to say sat heavily on her tongue, and more than anything she wanted to be able to say anything else, anything at all, but, “Darred, my sister... my sister’s dead. I am at a medical base where she gave birth and she... died in the process.”

“Padmé?.. Oh, Sola... I’m so sorry,” his voice was as lost as Sola herself felt. She wanted him to be with her, at this base, no, scratch that, she wanted to be home, lying in bed with him, his arms wrapped around her. She wanted him to hold her, chasing the last dredges of this nightmare away, instead of everything that’d been happening.

“We will have the time to mourn later, my love. I am afraid I must ask you a terrible favor... Padmé gave birth to a child, a boy, before she died. I want us to take him in and raise as our own, as his family...”

Darred didn’t even blink, “Sola, of course. He is family and we will take care of him, that’s not a difficult decision. Why would you feel this is a terrible thing to ask of me?”

“Oh, Darred, this is not the favor I needed. Luke, he is... the child of a Jedi. And he is in danger. We cannot reveal that he is Padmé’s son because... the Emperor knows about her relationship with the Jedi. We need to claim Luke is the son of someone else, and I. I know this will hurt you, but your brother died not too long ago, and we could... pretend that Luke is his son, and that his mother died in childbirth. I am so sorry to ask this of you but Luke, Luke needs to be someone other than Padmé’s son, for his safety and for ours.”

Her husband’s face was an impassive mask, but Sola knew him well enough to understand that inside, his emotions were a storm, a mixture of grief, hope, anger and so much more.

“I understand, Sola. This is sound. It’s a good idea. We will do it.”

“Thank you,” her eyes closed in her relief. “I need to do more arrangements still so I can’t stay longer, but I will try to make it back as soon as possible. Kiss the girls for me, okay? I love you all.”

“I love you too, Sola. We will meet soon,” Darred nodded, still serious but warmer already, and cut the call.

Sola breathed out. “Well, that’s one half of this taken care of.”

“And the other half?” asked Obi-Wan from his seat on the bench of her ship.

“I’m going to be making another call now. Shush.”

Sola opened another channel, this time to Coruscant, protected twice as much; this one could not be overheard by anyone, for any reason, or they would all suffer the consequences.

“Dormé,” Sola’s voice was steady once more.

“Lady Naberrie,” the handmaiden’s reply came through, “Are you with Lady Padmé?”

“My sister died, Dormé. I am sorry,” saying it didn’t get easier and every time Sola felt like crying.

“I am sorry too, Lady Naberrie,” Dormé murmured, lowering her head in mourning. “What do you need me to do?”

“My sister’s son lives. But his life is in danger. I need you to get someone you trust, someone who is loyal to Padmé – Typho, perhaps – and go to the planet Coyerti. My husband and I, we agreed that it would be best if we claimed Luke was the son of Darred’s brother. He died just a few months ago and there won’t be anyone to contest that he might have had a lover before his death. He had been on Coyerti for the past year and a half of his life. When you get there, make yourself visible, so that there are witnesses to corroborate the story if anyone goes looking. Talk about Padmé, about how this was her last order to you before she left for another mission you don’t know about.”

“But that is not all, is it, Milady?” Dormé was professional and cunning as always; a calming presence even across the Galaxy.

“No, I am afraid that is not all,” Sola took a deep breath and let it out heavily. “This won’t be easy, but... I need you to find another child, a newborn, no older than a week or two, a boy. Make it seem that this child is the one you will be delivering to me and my family. Bring him to Naboo in two days. I will meet you there.”

And though this was a heavy request, Dormé only inclined her head in a shallow nod and said, “I understood you, Milady. I will contact you when I and Captain Typho will be getting close to Naboo. Safe travels. Keep... keep Lady Padmé safe.”

And with that, the most difficult conversations of the day were over.

* * *

With all the preparations and cover-ups sufficiently handled for the time being, Sola and Obi-Wan had little more to talk about. He praised her quick thinking,

_“I never would have guessed you to be so cunning, if you will forgive me for putting it so bluntly. Padmé was a seasoned politician, I might have made wrong assumptions about you,” Obi-Wan’s voice was heavy, but obviously trying to put on an air of a joke. It was a good tactic, too, Sola thought. Put your conversation partner at ease and get more information out of them simultaneously. Smart._

_“I am the head of Naboo’s Royal Association of Arts and History, Obi-Wan. I thankfully mostly negotiate with officials of different planets and cultures, but I’ve had to do my fair share of shady deals with smugglers and worse. I know how to do underhanded politics just as well as my sister did.”_

Sola asked more questions,

_“Was there someone else here with you? Does anyone else know about... Padmé, and Luke?”_

_Obi-Wan visibly hesitated. He closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids with the thumb and index finger of his right hand before answering, almost reluctantly, “Master Yoda was here, too. He went to fight Palpatine and sent me after. After Anakin. He failed, too, so he sought me out. And Senator Organa arrived after contacting me and getting my location. Both of them know about Luke.”_

_“Will they be a problem?” Sola had to know._

_“No, I don’t believe so. Senator Organa was very distraught about Padmé’s passing and vowed to continue what the two of them started; you and young Luke will always have an ally in him. And Master Yoda... he wanted me to take Luke to Tatooine, he’s the one who suggested it. But he went into exile, on a planet I don’t think has been inhabited by sentient life in hundreds of years. It would be unusual if he were to come out of it now to take Luke away.”_

The two of them finalized their arrangements,

_“I can’t be the one to bring Padmé... Padmé’s body back home. I contacted Sabé, we agreed to meet on Nuvar. She will take it from there. Arrange for her to still– still look pregnant. Everything else. I didn’t ask. I don’t want to know. Sabé would know best. I need to be back on Naboo before word of Padmé’s death spreads, if our story is to be believed,” Sola swallowed heavily. “Where will you be going now?”_

_“Everywhere, at first. There still may be Jedi alive and there are cells of Force-sensitives who aren’t considered to be Jedi but who are part of the Order. I will try to find and help as many of them as I can. I promise, I will come back to Naboo when I can, to teach Luke. Just... don’t make him too visible, for now. And don’t let him anywhere near the Emperor or his apprentices.”_

And then Obi-Wan was off on Padmé’s ship, promising to abandon or change its appearance to something less recognizable as soon as possible, and Sola was on her own ship, two additional droid passengers with her, making her way to Nuvar, trying not to think about the encased body of her sister situated in the back. She occupied her time taking care of and getting to know Luke. Her tiny nephew who would be her son in all the ways that mattered. She already loved him so much and she knew the rest of her family would love him too. There was a pang of guilt as Sola thought back to her sister’s happiness to be a mother soon; Sola would be, in a way, taking that away from Padmé. Padmé, who already got her life taken away from her too early, so early she barely had the time to hold her child.

“You are so loved, Luke,” Sola whispered to the baby who was getting sleepy after being fed. “You were loved and you will be loved, my dear. You parents loved you–“

 _“Anakin killed Padmé,”_ Obi-Wan’s chocked words swam to the forefront of her memory. _“He used the force on her, he chocked her, he hurt her so much, and, and he had killed children...”_

Sola’s breath hitched. Perhaps, not Anakin, but, “Your mother loved you so much. You were the most important thing to her and she wanted you so, so much. Never doubt that, dear heart.”

Eventually, Luke slept, and Sola couldn’t stand the silence, the heavy air in her ship, the oppressive feeling of the new, reordered Galaxy they were all now living in. She grabbed one of Rai’endé’s books that she got from Eriadu; she might as well start reading it and writing her report, Sola reasoned.

That was not to be, though, as the third poem Sola read was about Rai’endé’s sister who was dead in all the ways that mattered to the people of Naboo – stripped of her freedom and the right to decide her life. And for all that she had still been alive, Rai’endé’s writing indicated that she mourned then, grieved just as Sola was grieving Padmé.

Sola cried half the way to Nuvar.

* * *

When Sola’s ship touched down on Naboo’s soil again, in the Lake Country, far away from Theed and prying eyes always following her family, she was greeted by a grim-faced Darred and her two daughters, holding each other’s hands, looking half-curious, half-scared. 

Sola’s heart clenched; children, hers or otherwise, weren’t supposed to be scared of such uncertainty. But then, she reasoned, her childhood wasn’t the most stable one in terms of socio-political stability. The difference was that at the time, it was just a corrupt authoritarian, one too cowardly to do much real damage, who ran for the hills the second the first independent Senator of Naboo got the Republic involved and engaged. Now the instability was Galaxy-wide and looked like the darkest time for their world in hundreds of years.

Maybe, the Galaxy had always been broken. Palpatine just shattered the last of their delusion that it was not so.

Sola didn’t run, if only because she had a small, precious child whom she didn’t want to disturb strapped to her front in a sling; her two girls did run though, Ryoo tugging her smaller sister Pooja along; Sola felt her heart squeeze at how much that reminded her of herself and Padmé a long time ago.

“Mama! Mama, you’re back!” her eldest yelled in that way that children who had only recently realized the concept of volume control did: loud at first, then much lower, almost like she was trying to yell and whisper at the same time. “Me an Pooj missed you. It was so scary, they said the war is over but there were still fights and dad was worried because you weren’t calling and we didn’t know if you were safe because of something with the tra- tranes-” Ryoo’s frown was adorable even as Sola’s heart was breaking at hearing about her daughters’ fear.

“Transmitters?” Sola offered softly, crouching down to look both her daughters in the eye. Pooja was silent, shy, but wouldn’t let her eyes leave her mother’s.

“Yes, them! I offered dad to find books on tramsmitters and how to make them better but he said I didn’t need to,” Ryoo’s face broke into a pout. Sola felt a lightness spread through her, one she hadn’t felt since she boarded her ship and went to Eriadu.

“Oh, my girls, I missed you so much too. Come here, let me hug you both,” Sola enveloped the two of them in her arms, careful not to squish little Luke between their bodies; she squeezed both her daughters, placing light kisses on their cheeks and foreheads. It felt good to be back with her family.

Even if not all of her family could be back.

The thought wasn’t as shattering after more space travel as it had been at Polis Massa. Naboo’s grief was deep, but it was long, always old, and shared with the whole planet. Naboo’s grief was strong, but it wasn’t debilitating. Naboo’s grief was art, and literature, and song, and dance. Naboo’s grief was life, as that was their best way to honor the dead. 

Sola would always carry the grief of her sister’s death with her, but she would do it while continuing to do what Padmé had done her whole life. Fight for freedom, and for the people.

* * *

Sola’s parents arrived not too long after Sola herself had. She’d called them ahead and told them to come, saying she had important news to break. Terrible, but important.

They all gathered in the inner dining room, with tea and light snacks. The girls were perhaps not old enough to truly understand what the conversation would revolve around, but Sola didn’t want to keep them in the dark; she would just have to find a way to be gentle with her words.

“Mother, father, thank you for coming,” she started, after taking a sip of the soothing tea harvested from Gallo Mountains, with herbal and fruit infusions from the fields of Ralej, a town to the north of Theed, responsible for most of Naboo’s agriculture. The warmth of her favorite liquid spread through Sola’s body but felt hollow in the face of what she was about to announce. She was missing Luke’s weight, significant and important, that she got used to during her journey back home; she had passed the baby to Darred who was now holding him and getting to know him for himself. “As you know, Padmé, months ago, asked me to attend her child labor if she couldn’t make it to Naboo before it was time. I’m. There is no easy way to say this, but. I was informed... recently... that Padmé died in unknown circumstances before she could, give birth. I was told she got hurt in a Sith attack.”

“Sweet Force...” Ruwee breathed out. Sola squeezed her eyes shut at the pain in her father’s voice; he had always been so close with Padmé and so supportive of her political career.

“I made arrangements with Sabé, who will bring Padmé back home for a proper burial,” she barreled on; if I stop speaking, I will never be able to say this, Sola thought with clarity. Darred shifted Luke in his arms to hold her hand for comfort. “And we will get to say goodbye to her, properly. But I want you to meet someone else. Mother, father, this is Luke. He is mine and Darred’s nephew but both his parents are gone, so we will be raising him as ours.”

Sola looked both her parents in the eyes intently, trying to convey what she was actually saying without putting it into words. Ruwee’s gaze sharpened, grief still there but dispersed for the moment. 

Jobal’s voice cut through, sharp, “And who were Luke’s parents, then?”

Sola inclined her head, recognizing the opening, “My brother-in-law, mother. You might remember him coming here once. Darred’s brother. He came long enough to attend our wedding and left Naboo again. He had... quite the affinity for walking the sky, let’s say.”

The words hung in the air of the room. Sola was sure her parents both understood the real meaning of her explanation. Ruwee breathed in through his gritted teeth, and Jobal shook her lowered head.

“Well, let me see my grandchild, Sola,” Jobal got up sharply to make her way towards Darred. He, likewise, got up and extended Luke towards his mother-in-law.

“Here, Jobal. Careful.”

“I know how to hold a child, Dar, don’t insult me” Darred tensed minutely, but the wry smirk on Jobal’s face indicated she wasn’t serious. “No offense to your brother or you, Darred, but I hope Luke doesn’t grow up looking too much like his father. No, no, let him look like his mother instead."

* * *

Luke’s adoption was finalized several hours later, when Dormé – alone, to which Sola raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask – arrived with the child from Coyerti, and Sola and Darred had to do a whole act of accepting the child before swapping him with Luke and leaving the other baby with Dormé again.

 _We will find a good and loving family for him,_ Sola reasoned with herself. _We will find a family that will love him and cherish him, and give him a better life than anything he could’ve gotten as an orphan on Coyerti._ But even with such justification Sola felt horrible for having to do this to another child.

Then, with Luke justifiably a Naberrie, all paperwork filled out and accepted, Sola started preparing for her next step. She called in a few favors with her compatriots, held an audience with her Queen, and wrote to one of the most popular publications on Naboo and the whole Mid Rim, saying that she was starting an interplanetary project and wanted to give an interview in the near future to discuss her idea.

Her most notable discussion about this was, perhaps, with Bail Organa of Alderaan.

_“Viceroy Organa, thank you for answering my call so urgently,” Sola greeted him with a small bow._

_“I knew I had to, when I saw what you were proposing, Lady Naberrie,” even the hologram of the man looked exhausted. “If I understood correctly, you wish to start a cooperation project to support all orphan children born in the week leading up to and during the creation of our... Empire.”_

_“Precisely. I wish to start with those children for now, try to find them foster families, build new housing for families that might be willing to adopt but for their living conditions, organize study programs and retreats for the children. Depending on the success of this operation, I would want to extend the same opportunity to more orphaned children.”_

_“Then you must know that I, with the mandate given to me by my Queen and the people of Alderaan, will always support any such initiative.”_

_“Thank you, Viceroy. It is a relief to know that Alderaan will be a supporter of my initiative on Naboo and beyond.”_

_“My wife and I just recently adopted a child orphaned by the war. We would do anything to better the lives of all of them,” Bail’s conviction was true, Sola could tell even through a holo call. And he also gave Sola an opening._

_“My husband and I also got the chance to adopt, just earlier today. My brother-in-law, Darred’s brother, died, and his wife didn’t make it through childbirth. The boy was supposed to have a different last name, but we’ve taken him in and named him Luke Naberrie.”_

_Bail Organa was too well-trained to show a big reaction, but Sola could see some of the shock he felt for a few moments before he composed himself._

_“I am sorry for your loss, Lady Naberrie, but I congratulate you on your family. I will send a representative of mine soon to hold further discussions on what Alderaan can do for the orphaned children of the Galaxy.”_

* * *

Sabé’s ship, holding her and Captain Typho, arrived late in the night of the same day, and by morning, all of Naboo knew of the death of Padmé Amidala. Grief permeated the planet, from Theed, to Lake Country, to even Dungan cities, both underwater and on the planet’s soil.

A public funeral, customary for all past elected monarchs, was organized by midday. Leading the procession was Queen Apailana, looking regal in a mixture of purple and silver, the mourning colors of Naboo.

“Today, we say goodbye to one of the most important people to all of us on this planet,” Apailana’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was steady and sharp. “We say goodbye to a Queen, a Senator, a mentor, a freedom fighter.”

Sola and her family stood off to the side, closer to the people than to public officials who were all expected to lead with the Queen. Sola had been hearing murmurs, whispers of gossip all throughout the day, lamenting that she and her husband lost their siblings almost at once, and that Amidala’s child never got the chance to see the light of the world. _At least_ , Sola’s logical brain whispered, _they believe that Padmé died before she could give birth_.

“And for all of Queen and Senator Amidala’s accomplishments,” Sola tuned into Apailana’s speech again, “we mustn’t forget the greatest lessons she taught us. That fighting between those of Naboo is pointless, and it’s our unity that is our strength. That a Naboo united makes any invader tremble. That no invader will ever get Naboo without having to spill rivers of blood as long as the Solleu and as deep as the lakes of Varykino, and damning themselves for eternity. That Naboo will only ever be free and will never accept occupants imposing their will on us. Queen Amidala had a vision of Naboo, and in her stead we will live up to that vision. For Amidala!”

As the people of Theed erupted into applause and yells of “For Amidala!”, Sola closed her eyes, trembling. And though she wasn’t religious, she prayed, _Dua, Goddess of Ohma-D’un, Goddess of Storms, Goddess of Calm, Goddess of the Dead. Give that girl the strength to live through the hard times to come, that she will face head on. Give me that same strength._

* * *

Sola got up at the sound of a baby crying. Darred had taken care of Luke the night before, so now it was Sola’s turn. She made her way to the door and entered the adjacent room, taking care not to make too much noise.

Luke wasn’t a demanding baby, generally. He was quiet most of the time and if he was around another person, you couldn’t find a more obedient baby. For some reason, however, that didn’t extend beyond midnight, upon which Luke decided that sleep was overrated and his family had abandoned him, and started to cry, like a clockwork, every two hours until dawn broke.

Sola picked up the squirming baby, hushing him gently and rocking him in her arms as she went out into the warm morning air on the small balcony attached to the room, thinking over her week as she looked out onto waking Varykino.

The interview that Sola had arranged was postponed by a week, to give her the time to grieve and recover from the multiple blows done to her family. Two days after she gave it, it was cut, assembled, and uploaded to holonet. That would ruin whatever plans for “cleaning” the House of Naberrie that Palpatine might have come up with, following Padmé’s and Apailana’s outspoken near-betrayal of him. Sola was too visible, too important, too close to the Royal family of a Core planet with Bail Organa promoting her initiative. And Sola had close contacts all across the Galaxy due to her other work. Removing Sola would only further destabilize the already fragile unity of the Galaxy under Palpatine’s new Empire. He wouldn’t risk it.

 _“My sister’s loss is still very recent, so I am not ready to talk about her at length. But I know that she cared very deeply about the children of the Galaxy, especially those who didn’t receive as many chances as others to have a good life. She was looking forward to becoming a mother, and I am devastated that neither she, nor the child she would have had got a chance. So I want to give other children a chance, for Padmé, for her child, for my brother-in-law’s child. For all the other children in the Galaxy,”_ Sola said to her interviewer then. 

She was convinced that even if some of her more rebellious lines might’ve been cut, this part was kept intact and displayed as the core of her interview and even the whole project. And, although the main reason for it had been cynical, Sola wanted to make a difference for the people of the Galaxy that were powerless to oppose oppression and did not deserve such a grim fate. 

The Empire might have covered the entire Galaxy in shadows, but... Sola looked out at the lake Naral, the deepest and darkest lake in Lake Country, and the sun appearing from just behind it. _The law of nature is that dawn always breaks no matter what._

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be 2k words but then it grew out of control and here we are
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you like this one. I have plans for this series and a lot of ideas, but I'm not sure how soon I will realistically be able to write the second part, so it could take a while (especially since I also have a different WIP I'm working on). Regardless, I hope to see you in the following story(ies)! Tell me what you think
> 
> P.S. the child that Dormé brought from Coyerti was then adopted by Typho


End file.
